At some point in their lives, everybody screws up. The loftier your ambitions, the larger your mistakes usually become. But if you really want to screw up something on a grand scale, you need to marshal the forces of the U.S. government.

Whether you lean left or right or run straight up the middle, there's no question that the rollout of HealthCare.gov puts the "cluster" in "cluster***k." Some people couldn't reach the site at all; others couldn't register. Some who did register are getting back inaccurate information about what insurance programs they qualify for; insurance companies say they're getting wrong or duplicate information from the government.

In interviews, experts said the technological problems of the site went far beyond the roadblocks to creating accounts that continue to prevent legions of users from even registering. Indeed, several said, the login problems, though vexing to consumers, may be the easiest to solve. One specialist said that as many as five million lines of software code may need to be rewritten before the Web site runs properly.

Sure, the website rollout could have been handled a lot better. With all the delays and warning signs, the government could have stopped touting Healthcare.gov and teasing the public with messages such as "5 days to open enrollment. Don't wait another minute."